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Transition to new emergency messaging service begins

Students, faculty and staff to receive signup notices by email in the coming weeks

May 13, 2014

Transition to new emergency messaging service begins

Beginning May 14, Penn State students, faculty and staff will start receiving emails inviting them to add their emergency contact information to PSUAlert, the University’s new emergency alerts system. As announced earlier this year, Penn State is transitioning to PSUAlert, away from the current emergency messaging service known as PSUTXT. The new service will feature enhanced messaging capabilities and more robust integration with the University’s other communications platforms. This change will take place at all Penn State campuses, with the exception of Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, Pa.

To manage traffic to the PSUAlert signup portal, email notices are being sent over the course of several weeks; the last of the emails will be sent in early June. The messages will be sent to the Penn State email address of every student, faculty member and staff member.

Through June 30, Penn State will send emergency alerts using both the outgoing PSUTXT system and the new PSUAlert system. On July 1, PSUTXT will be decommissioned and PSUAlert will become the University’s sole emergency messaging system. Throughout the transition, multiple communications will be sent to the University community and all current PSUTXT subscribers.

To ensure the fastest possible delivery of critical information to Penn State campus communities in the event of an emergency, the new PSUAlert system is reserved for students, faculty and staff. Students can add parents to their PSUAlert accounts if they wish (for details visit the PSUAlert FAQs), and alert messages are widely available on Twitter and Facebook. Also, all students, faculty and staff will now receive alerts for their home campus at their Penn State-issued email address.

The new service features enhanced messaging capabilities, including the continued ability for enrollees to receive alerts by text message and email; the addition of phone-based voice alerts; and more robust integration with campus Facebook and Twitter accounts.